And those who save money as children are also more likely to do so as adults, the authors added.

Prof Sarah Brown and Prof Karl Taylor, economists at Sheffield University, analysed responses to questions in the annual British Household Panel Survey over a 17-year period.

The study, by the Institute for Social and Economic Research, involves 10,000 interviews with people of all ages, to gauge opinion on matters as diverse as finance and sex to religion.

Children aged between 11 and 15 were asked how much pocket money they received, whether they worked and whether they saved it all, spent it all, or a combination of the two.

While most of the children saved some money for toys or new mobile phone accessories, almost a quarter said that they spent all of it immediately without putting anything away.

The researchers noticed that those who received the largest amount of cash from their parents without having to work for it were also most likely to spend it all without saving.

They calculated that even a one per cent increase in a child’s pocket money reduced the probability that they would save money by a fifth.

“Our findings suggest that the amount of the allowance or pocket money that the child receives from their parents is inversely associated with the probability of saving,” they wrote.

“In contrast, earnings from part-time work are positively associated with the probability that the child saves.”

The researchers likened children who rely on pocket money to “state dependence” among adults.

They noted other studies that suggested people who saved money as children were far more likely to do so in adult life.

One study concluded that learning the habit of saving early in life was one of the most powerful spurs to financial prudence later on, second only to being self employed.

“Although most children do not hold financial assets or face any 'substantive financial decisions’, it is apparent that children may face saving decisions, albeit in the context of saving, for example, for a toy or for the latest mobile phone as opposed to large scale saving decisions related to, for example, a house purchase,” the study concluded.

“Analysis of the saving behaviour of children may shed light on financial decision-making at an early stage of the life cycle and how such saving behaviour may influence financial behaviour later on in life.

"Our findings thus indicate that shaping the financial behaviour of children may have long-lasting effects in terms of financial behaviour and decision-making as an adult.”

The study found no direct link between how much money parents saved for the future and how much their children did.

But the authors added: “It is apparent that the extent to which parents share their expectations regarding household finances with their children may also influence the saving behaviour of their offspring.”